Sunday, 10 November 2013

As always, the A-Side qualifiers get a Skins Game - a chance to make a bit more coin. And this year, It's the young bloods

A-Side Qualifyer Team Marsh from Saskatoon

Team Marsh from Saskatoon sports curling's version of the Sedin Twins! These young Marsh boys, Kevin and Dan, along with mates Matthew Ryback and Aaron Shutra have quietly marched to the A-Side Final in the $50,000 Whites Drug Store Curling Classic.

"They even use Sedins' numbers on their curling jerseys."

Spectators were contemplating whether they were twins. "Well they certainly share the same build." "They are definitely brothers."

Three women discussed the possiblity of twinship while watching the early ends of Marsh's game agains their Saskatoon Nutana Curlinc Club mates, Team Korte. It was a hockey fan on the next bench, an eavesdropper, who spouted in the hockey jersey fact. Sporting numbers 22 and 33, they are definitely having fun with the Canuk's Sedin twins.
"Well that clinches it," the women agreed.

And it was the fourth time Korte and March had met this season including a loss to them in the Point Optical in Saskatoon. Korte had the veteran feel, runner-up in the 2013 Saskatchewan Tankard, but this time, when there was money at stake, Marsh exuded playful confidence. It seems getting out of the home down has given them a relaxed feel. They are on a roll and their youth friendly demeanor has warmed them to the Swan River audience.

A-Side Qualifier Team Eriksson from Karlstad Sweden

And they will be up against another youthful team. This time there are no twins, but yes, brothers Eriksson. A team that is much higher in the WCT cash rankings - in 18th spot - and a chance to move up significantly, Team Eriksson from Sweden. They've had a grueling season with good results, QF's and CF's losses, and have regularly hit the money. One of six European teams at this year's Whites, Team Eriksson downed perennial Whites qualifier Randy Bryden from the Callie Club in Regina in his qualifying game. Until this loss, Bryden had notched up eight straight wins in WCT play this season, taking the big winnings in Medicine Hat in October. Team Ericksson took an early four, and then Bryden started picking away, at the young Swedes, coming within a point and with a chance to steal a tie, but Eriksson shook off the dust of consecutive steals by Bryden and put him away to move into the money round and play the skins game today, at 1:30 pm Central Time.

Whites THE SKINS GAME.

1:30 pm CST

Marsh of Saskatoon - $1000

vs

Eriksson of Sweden - $500

The championship final will be streamed. Monday at 4pm Central time. Follow here for links.

Wednesday, 2 October 2013

November 8-11 - with the championship round on the Monday - a day of remembrance.

Because the the grand purse, Whites attracts the world's best. And the location is also great - a reasonable road trip for Manitoba and Saskatchewan teams. And teams will also come by air - private planes (Swan has a great little air port) or with a rental car from Regina - a bit of a trip (3hrs) - but so worth it. Teams also drive up from North Dakota and Minnesota, and Whites has a history of European teams making the trip.

Why?

The Ice. The ice at the Whites is reliable, keen, and world class. Swan River Curling Club is a 6 sheet open, arena style club, with great viewing. It is an easy event because the community is small enough to be convenient - 5 minutes to the club from anywhere - and the hospitality is easy going.

The WCT page shows that KMart won it two in a row, a few years back. What it fails to show us is that he also shot for the big bucks in 2012 but the field was too tough - and it's getting tougher. Great teams love Whites.

While you are here, take a gander at the sponsor participation - this is an event that draws attentive regional crowds of folk who know the background on all of the teams and appreciate the feisty nature of the WCT 8-end contests.

Tuesday, 13 November 2012

An era has passed. White's Drug Store
has been sold. The Nahnybidas are moving toward retirement. On
Friday evening, the first night of the 14th annual White's
Drug Store Curling Classic, curlers and committee members honoured
the long-standing Gold Sponsor of the White's for their great
contribution to world class curling, and there were a few tears shed
with the memories of the past 14 White's Classics.

The Draw.

But the curling continued. The best
teams in the world were curling on the best ice in Manitoba, aiming
for the $51,500 in prize money, and for the Manitoba teams, a berth
to the Manitoba Safeway Championships in Neepawa in February. The
curling fans swamped to the draw board and were meticulous about
their updates.

For the first time, the Whites was
streamed out to the internet via Ustream. Local filmmaker, Kevin
Penner volunteered his camera and PC and sheet three was set up for
streaming. Eleven games were streamed and the link was tweeted
across curling circles and around the world. Over 2000 people caught
games on sheet three via the Ustream feed. Lorna Spicer and John
Caruk also served as video crew for the streams.

Martin & BJ sweep Morris's shot. McEwen holds the broom. !?!

At 11 am, on the dot, on Sunday
morning, all games were stopped. The teams moved along side the
commemorative wreath at the back of the rink for a solemn ceremony of
remembrance, and then it was back to business.

The greatest curlers in the world were
on the ice. Six Olympic medalists (Team Martin - 2010, Mark Nichols
– 2000, and John Shuster 2006 , USA), World Champions, WCT Money
leaders. Really the best of the best were standing shoulder to
shoulder with the fans.

Streaming sheet three.

11:00 am. A pause to Remember.

And there were upsets. And there were
amazing shots. And there was a bit of broom banging and lots of
laughter. Teams McEwen and Martin earned the right to play in the
$1500 skins game by virtue of their A-Side qualifying wins. They
decided to “Mix it Up” as Kevin Martin put it. It would be the
Front Enders from both teams (Kennedy, Heibert, Denni and Woz)
against the big guys: Martin McEwen Morris and BJ. It was really
interesting to see Kevin Martin and BJ Neufeld sweeping John Morris's
rock while Mike McEwen held the broom. You don't see that very
often. In the end, it was Front End triumphant. $1050 to $450.
There were lots of laughs and lots of big weight miracle shots.
Unforgettable.

6 Sheets in Action. Best in the world.

In the end, Mike McEwen's Winnipeg team
took home the $12,000 big winnings and the 21 CRTS points that will
help theme advance their way to the Olympic Curling Trials next
December in Winnipeg. Randy Bryden of Regina, defeated Team Martin
in the semi-final only to go down to McEwen in the final. This was
his second time as a runner-up at the Whites. His $9000 winnings
made the loss a bit easier to handle. Terry McNamee's Brandon/Pilot
Mound foursome took home the floating MCA berth and will be after the
provincial Tankard in Neepawa this February.

Between the Semifinal and Final games,
the Whites committee opened the PA system and made an announcement.
Rumours and discussion had been drifting around the club all weekend
about the future of the White's Drug Store Curling Classic. Would
this be the last year? To a curler, all agreed that would be a real
shame.

“Too many of the good events have
been shutting down,” said qualifying skip, Jeff Hartung of
Langenberg. Hartung, curling with two of his sons, knocked off
Stoughton in B to qualify and earned $4000 for that win. “This
location is great for the Saskatchewan teams. We would really miss
this event if this was the last of it.”

Well, his worries were put to rest.
The White's committee announced that the new owner wanted to make it
known that they would continue as title sponsor for the White's.
There was an audible sigh of relief followed by grateful applause.

This White's was the best yet. The
blizzard may have reduced the number of curling fans who came to
watch, but the curlers all made it before the big storm hit, and the
streaming reached many curling fans who were unable to attend.

The White's Drug Store Curling Classic
has become a legacy. The curlers love it. They'll be back.

Wednesday, 7 November 2012

If you want to see the best curlers in
the world, but are not keen on sitting through a two hour game, (the
games are only eight ends in the World Curling Tour events), why not
come to the club for the second half of the game? Come an hour after
the draw begins. Have a drink, or a coffee. Watch the winning
shots. Order a meal in the curling clubroom, have a visit and rub
shoulders with, oh, I dunno, Kevin Martin? Mike McEwen? Or how
about the Gunner, Jason Gunnlaugson, who went to curl in Russia and
is now curling for Jim Cotter? Or maybe last year's Saskatchewan
champs, the mild-mannered team Manners. Manitoba Champs, Rob Fowler
will be here, and well, yah, Stoughton is coming too. Nothing like
having a few world champions in the club. How about an Olympic
Medalist... No, not Martin, we mean John Shuster (from Duluth
Minnesota). He won a bronze in Turin in '06. Well, there's also the
leading money winner from Europe, team Michel from Switzerland, and
their arch rivals and countrymen, deCruz. The strong Saskatchewan
teams are lining up for the $50,000 prize money... Laycock, Bryden,
Hartung. And our loyal regulars, who know the ice the best, like
Thompson's Sam Antila, and Willie Lyburn, provincial runner-up.
This is going to be the best White's yet.

The fifteenth annual White's Drug
Store Curling Classic takes place at the Swan River Curling Club this
weekend, Friday November 9 – starting at 10 am until playoff time
on Monday November 12. There are four draws every day. The games
will pause for a Remembrance Day ceremony at 11am on Sunday.

Day passes are only $5. Weekend passes
are only $15. Come for a visit, buy some refreshments. Enjoy the
excitement. See you there.

One of the Manitoba teams has dropped out of the White's. Team Ramsay got their berth to the provincials last weekend in Gimli and despite the opportunity to play the best on the planet, they just can not make it to Swan River for the rumble.

So, we are one team short with a week to go.

oops... UPDATE

Thanks to Scott Madams Team from

Winnipeg for stepping in off the waiting

list. Good Luck and Good curling guys.

We think the critical mass of this line-up will tease a top notch team into making the trip... Hackner (on a roll), Jacobs (with Fry, who knows the ice), Koe (ever the rival, no the champ!), Epping (can whop the best of them). Spread the word.

Thursday, 1 November 2012

Thursday after 8:30 pm. 2 or 3 sheets will be available right away, and the other three will open up when the men's league winds up their Thursday night draw.

Friday all day. Two (outside) sheets will be available all day, from 10 am - 5pm for warm up and practice time. Everyone knows the outside sheets are just as good as the other four. No adjustments required.

Thursday, 18 October 2012

Josh Heidt has stepped out from under the veil of his ever present father's curling legacy. In his last showing at The White's, Josh was with his dad and his brother, Mitch. This year, he is at the helm. He has his own team. He wants to face some of the biggies and here is his opportunity raise the Heidt name.

From Kerrobert, Josh has Brock Montgomery, Matt Lang, and Dustin Kirby with him. Youth is on their side. White's fans love the reckless abandon of the young teams and expects to see some drama and excitement from these boys.

Monday, 15 October 2012

He's Baaayaaak. But this time Jason Gunnlaugson has stayed in the country to find his curling destiny. Flamboyant up and comer who fearlessly wowed the crowd at the Oly Trials before Vanoc2010, gambles professionally, considers relinquishing his Canadian Olympic rights to Moscow offers and now has landed with perhaps the meekest of contenders in the country. But meek in a good way. Quiet. Determined. Accurate. The ever present Jim Cotter has also been shuffling positions and relationships on the ice, throwing the brick, calling the game, sweeping. We don't hear much from him but his signature Cat Hat makes him instantly identifiable and when we see him we know the team will not be taken lightly. What a match up. Joining Jim and Gunner are Tyrel Griffith and Rick Sawatsky. They are curling out of Kelowna/Vernon. Good luck boys.

Team Shuster. The four J's: John, Jeff, Jared and JohnII. Skip, John Shuster has had a taste of the biggest podium in our sport, he got the Bronze in Turin in '06. Since then, he's been climbing the ranks in the USA, as the skipper and now is clearly in the top five. He sees himself heading to Sochi in 2014 and needs to face the music to test his mettle. The Duluth foresome will cross the 49th and head up to The Valley so they can earn some points, some money and look their challengers in the eye. Early season results have been strong for Team Schuster. They took top prize in the St. Paul's Cash Spiel and qualified in the Point Optical in Saskatoon. Whites will be their 4th WCT event of the season.

John Shuster curls with Jeff Isaacson, Jared Zezel, and John Lansteiner

Sunday, 16 September 2012

Peters Galbraith Einarson Neufeld. Not so young anymore and hunting for the chemistry to put it all together. Whites fans have watched the young Peters mature from temper to tactics. We love his sometimes radical shot decisions and his aggressive wins and play. His team has seen it all too and if, no, WHEN this team clicks. Watch Out. The anger settles into determination and the experience ices the cake. Daley Peters, Chris Galbraith, Kyle Einerson and Mike Neufeld have trekked up to The Valley to topple a few.

Saturday, 15 September 2012

Randy Bryden has knocked on the door of the Championship Final in the White's, and more than once. He always leaves with money. This year, he is bringing a different team. A friendly rivalry will ensue should the former team mates meet, and as Murphy's Law dictates, they likely will. But Bryden is a take-the-helm kind of guy and is great to watch. He's a Saskatchewan Tankard regular. He's methodical. Steady. Finalist in the MNP - Classic this season. Hungry. Great to have you back Randy.